Los Andes Copper Ltd (CVE:LA) (OTCMKTS:LSANF) (FRA:L41A) has welcomed the results of pre-feasibility study (PFS) metallurgical testing at its Vizcachitas copper project in Chile, which it said has improved on the economics of the 2019 preliminary economic assessment (PEA).
The work showed that the asset will produce clean concentrates and that overall recovery of molybdenum over the first 12 years of the mine will be 76%, up from an assumption of 75% in the PEA.
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"The results represent yet another accomplishment for the development of Vizcachitas, following the recent investment from Queen's Road Capital, the award of the environmental approvals for the drilling programs and further metallurgical test work confirming a copper recovery rate of 91.4%," Fernando Porcile, executive chairman of Los Andes said in a statement.
"These updates illustrate the asset's significant potential," he added.
Based on the PFS testing on samples for the first 12 years of the operation, moly recoveries were 90.3% in the rougher stage, 95.8% in the cleaner-scavenger stage, and 90.6% in the copper-molybdenum selective flotation.
In addition, analysis for the final copper concentrates confirmed that Vizcachitas will produce clean concentrates, with projected final copper concentrate grades at between 22.9% and 24.4% copper, and a credit may be obtained for silver at grades between 46 to 65 grammes per tonne (g/t).
"The outcome of this metallurgical study has shown an improvement in the overall recoveries and it is encouraging to see that it has also confirmed the use of eco-friendly technologies such as HPGR and dry-stacked tailings, which are important in the development of sustainably produced copper for the green transition. We look forward to providing advancements as we move to complete our PFS at Vizcachitas," continued Porcile.
The Vizcachitas deposit sits in a huge land package, spanning 308 square kilometres (sq km), of which only a small portion has so far been explored, and lies in the same geological belt as several other giant porphyry deposits. The project is currently at PFS stage after the positive PEA in 2019 showed compelling economics.
Using a copper price of US$3.50 a pound, the after-tax net present value (NPV) was pegged at US$2.7 billion, while the internal rate of return (IRR) was 26.7%. Initial capex needed was put at US$1.88 billion for a project with 3.4 year pay-back time and a mine life of 45 years.
Vizcachitas already hosts a measured and indicated resources of 11.2 billion pounds of copper, 400 million pounds of molybdenum and 43.3 million ounces of silver.
Additionally, there is 'significant' exploration upside with potential to increase the resource base beyond the initial 45 year mine life modelled in the PEA.
Contact the author at giles@proactiveinvestors.com